I created this section because I think that it is interesting that here in
the U.S. we do little to honor a girl when she begins to menstruate, while in
other cultures it is more of a big deal. Other cultures also think about periods
differently, in general, and that's interesting too.

If you celebrated your first period in any way, or know anyone who did, I'd
love to hear about it. Send me some
mail, and maybe I'll make a new section just for those descriptions.

My disclaimers:

I found most of this stuff in books by anthropologists, people who go live
with and study other people. Some of this might be outdated. People who didn't
have much contact with the industrialized world can quickly become part of our
"global village" and take on Western/Christian attitudes and leave their
traditional ways behind.

Also, just because I say, for instance, that girls in such and such place
celebrate their first period in a particular way, that does not mean that ALL
the girls in that place will celebrate their period that way, or will celebrate
it at all.

IVORY COAST

An elder (an older, respected member of the community) of the Beng people of
Africa's Ivory Coast explains what his people believe about menstruation:

"Menstrual blood is special because it carries in it a living being. It works
like a tree. Before bearing fruit, a tree must first bear flowers. Menstrual
blood is like the flower: it must emerge before the fruit - the baby - can be
born. Childbirth is like a tree finally bearing its fruit, which the woman then
gathers."

MELVILLE ISLAND

Among the Tiwi people of Melville Island, a girl achieves special status with
her first blood: she is called "Murinaleta" for four menstrual periods.

During her first menstrual period the Murinaleta leaves the general community
and goes out into the wild with other women to set up a new camp. She is usually
accompanied by her mother, her co-wives (she is already married) and any other
older women. No men are allowed in the camp. During this time she is not allowed
to touch water, or even a container holding water, so other women hold water to
her lips. She is also not allowed to look at any bodies of water, because spirit
beings in the water may kill her if she does. There are many taboos to follow
the first time beside these, she also is not allowed to speak, or scratch her
own skin. After this first special time she, like all other women, will have
less strict precautions to take during her periods.

PORTUGAL

Every winter in a small town in Portugal most households kill a pig and cure
its meat for later use. Among the women who organize the butcherings there is a
strict taboo against menstruating women helping to butcher a pig or even
entering a house where a pig is being cured. Whether or not the woman intends
it, her menstruation gives her the evil eye, and her power is so great that she
can ruin the meat by just looking at it.

When a woman comes to the door, she is asked "Can you see?" and if she
answers that she can, it means she is not menstruating.

AUSTRALIA

Aboriginal Australian men exercise ritual power through ceremonies in which
they cut themselves to imitate women's menstruation. In some tribes men actually
cut open their penises to reproduce the look of a bleeding vulva. They say that
the women used to perform these ceremonies, that all of this ritual power really
belongs to women (though their blood), but that men have learned how to trick
women:

"But really we have been stealing what belongs to them (the women), for it is
mostly all women's business; and since it concerns them it belongs to them. Men
have nothing to do really, except copulate, it belongs to the women, All that
belonging to those Wuwalak (legendary bleeding sisters), the baby, the blood,
the yelling, their dancing, all that concerns the women; but every time we have
to trick them. Women can't see what men are doing, although it really is their
own business, but we can see their side... In the beginning we had nothing,
because men had been doing nothing; we took these things from women."

Aboriginal Australian women make a cat's cradle design called "the menstrual
blood of three women". They usually make this design when there are only women
around. If a man walks past he will not look at their game because it is part of
the domain of women. Cat's cradles such as this may be used in their rituals for
a girl's first menstruation.

NATIVE TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA

The Hopi

The Hopi, like many other peoples, have myths about the magical powers of
menstrual blood. "The Bloody Maiden Who Looks After Animals" is a mythological
woman, who, legend has it, was angry at some Hopi hunters. She killed them, and
then appeared before all of the people covered with blood. She grabbed a live
antelope with one hand, and wiped her other hand over her vulva. She wiped this
hand on the antelope's nose, and twisted its nose, and then let it free. She
then told the people that from then on it would be very hard for them to hunt
the antelope.

The Navaho

The Navahos have a ceremony for menarche called Kinaaldá, which continues
today. It is considered the most important of their religious rites. Its purpose
is to make sex holy and fruitful. The menstruating girl is secluded and given
instruction, and afterward there is a great celebration in which the entire
communtiy is involved. Girls may go through more this ceremony more than once
during their first year of menstruation.

The Yurok

An anthropologist was visiting the home of a friend of his who was a a member
of the Yurok tribe of Northern California On the way home, his friend explained
to the anthropologist that his wife was having her period, and so would not be
joining them for dinner. The anthropologist was surprised that his friend and
his wife followed the old ways of isolating women during their period. When they
got to the house the wife appeared and explained that while she didn't have a
menstrual hut to go to, she often stayed in the back room of their house during
her period. Sometimes, though, she became restless and came out to talk, like
tonight. The anthropologist asked her why she followed the old ways, and she
explained that when she was very young, she was raised in non-Indian foster
homes, where she was taught that menstruation was shameful, a punishment for
women. When she returned to Yurok society her aunts and her grandmother, who
were very well respected women, taught her differently, they trained her in the
Yurok menstrual rules.

These rules say that when a woman is menstruating she is very powerful, and
she should isolate herself at this time so that she should not waste her energy
on every day matters, or have her concentration broken by members of the
opposite sex.

She learned that all of her energy should go toward meditating on the purpose
of her life, and the gathering of her spiritual energy. The menstrual shelter is
the equivalent of the men's sweathouse, a place where you go to look into
yourself and make yourself stronger. They believe the flow of blood helps purify
a woman's body for spiritual tasks.

During this time a woman must use a special scratching stick instead of
absentmindedly scratching herself with her fingers because she must focus her
whole attention on her body by making her conscious of even the most natural
actions. She be aware of her entire body all of the time.

Through practicing the menstrual traditions women come to see that "the earth
has her own moontime" and understanding that makes women stronger and proud of
their own cycle. The Yurok woman also said that in the old days all of the
village women who were fertile had their periods at the same time, so all of
them would leave to go to the menstrual shelter at once. The men of the village
used that time to go and train in their own traditions in their sweathouse.

JAPAN

This just a little observation: in Japan today tampons come with little
plastic finger coverings - like cut-off fingers of gloves - so that women do not
have to touch themselves "down there" when they put in a tampon.

This might sound a bit paranoid, but tampons which come with applicators like
the popular brands used by women in the United States seem strange to European
women whose tampons usually come without applicators. We have applicators so,
like the Japanese women, we do not have to touch ourselves "down there."

NEW GUINEA

Among the Arapesh people, who live in New Guinea, there is a traditional
celebration of a girl's first menstruation. It takes place in her husband's home
(Arapesh girls are married before they begin to menstruate), but her family
takes part in it too. Her brothers build her a fine menstrual hut, a temporary
home, where she sits with her legs crossed. Her woven arm and leg bands are
removed, and the things she carries with her every day are taken away, so that
she will have a fresh start on life.

She stays in the hut for three days, fasting. She drinks no water and eats no
food. On the third day she comes out and an uncle makes little decorative cuts
on her shoulders and buttocks. This is called scarification, and is considered a
beautiful way to decorate the body.

INDIA

In the South of India and in Ceylon, the Brahmin community performs a
traditional ritual to celebrate the beginning of menstruation called Samati
Sadang. The hope is that the girl will lead a fertile life. The girl sits on
banana leaves and eats raw egg flavored with ginger oil and then she is given a
bath in milk. When this ritual is over, the whole family comes together to feast
and celebrate her becoming a mature female.

When a Nayar girl of India begins her period, she may be secluded, and then
visited by neighbor women and dressed in new clothes. She usually will begin
wearing a sari, a woman's dress, at this time. Later she and her friends will
take a ceremonial bath, and then go to a feast where "drums are beaten and
shouts of joy are given."

TURKEY

In a small village in Turkey, most of the villagers practiced Islam. The
village women explained to a researcher that menstruation was given to women as
punishment for Hawa's (Eve's) disobedience against Allah (God) in Cennet
(Paradise). Her weakness, allowing Satan to tempt her to eat the fruit, is a
sign that all women are morally weak and need to be watched over by men.

Turkish women who follow Islam are not allowed to enter the mosque (temple),
touch the Koran (sacred book) or join the community in fasting during the sacred
holiday of Ramadan while they are menstruating.

A menstruating woman also cannot join the Hajj, the pilgrimage to the holy
city of Mecca. If she starts her period on the way, she cannot enter the sacred
part of the city. For this reason most women make the journey after
menopause.

KOREA

In Korea a girl may be given a dinner in her honor when she has her first
period. One of the traditional dishes for this occassion is a special soup made
out of seaweed.

ANCIENT IRELAND

In an ancient Celtic story called "The Cattle Raid of Cuchalainn" there was a
beautiful, powerful warrior queen named Maeve. She led her people in battle
against the legendary hero Cuchulainn.

According to the story, Queen Maeve was an equal opponent for this great
hero. The only reason she lost the battle against him is because her period
began and she had to get out of her chariot to take care of it. When she did,
Cuchalainn snuck up behind Queen Maeve and captured her. The spot on which she
bled was forever after known as "Maeve's Foul Place."

UGANDA

In Uganda when a girl has her first period she might get to stay home from
school. Her mother and her aunts would then spend the day with her and tell her
things she needs to know.

Later, her girl friends would come to visit her and have a party. They'd all
sing a beautiful song about menstruation together to celebrate.